Jessie J…

Jessie J Interview

Jessie J rocked the front cover of our summer special issue release in July and August. Here is a preview of our interview with Jessie J! Please click here to read the full interview in our snazzy back issue published online!

The ‘Price Tag’ singer, Jessie J, looks forward to a summer of fun performing at a string of festivals. She also hits back at stories claiming she has been behaving like a diva on ‘The Voice UK’ and the latest on her new single and the second album.

SO YOU ARE GOING TO BE PLAYING SOME BIG FESTIVAL GIGS OVER THE SUMMER, WHAT’S IT LIKE STANDING IN FRONT OF THAT MANY PEOPLE?

You know what, that many people almost becomes less than say four or five hundred because you can’t really focus on them, it’s just a lot of noise. So I kind of just try and do what I do whether it’s ten people or eighty thousand, but it’s always amazing to hear that many people singing your songs. I try and get the audience involved and getting them to sing really loud. To be honest with you this festival season, this run, it’s gonna be bigger and better for me, definitely, yeah.

AFTER THE INJURY TO YOUR FOOT LAST YEAR, IS THIS THE SUMMER YOU WERE WAITING FOR?

This is the summer that I was waiting for. I’m booked up every day this summer and I can’t wait. I’m gonna forget about getting a tan and I’m just gonna go in and I’m gonna have fun and I’m gonna enjoy every single festival and every performance
that I have this summer.

YOU RECENTLY THANKED YOUR FANS FOR THE SUPPORT BECAUSE THERE’S BEEN A LOT WRITTEN ABOUT YOU. HAS THAT COME AS A SHOCK?

No, no, no. When I first signed to ‘The Voice’ I sat and was very real with my family, with my friends, with my management, with everyone and said, ‘They’re gonna go in on me.’ The British press sadly, they like to build artists up and then rip them down – that’s how they work. Me being the only female, someone who’s very honest who wears my heart on my sleeve, it’s kind of the same boring story that you’ve read about myself, Cheryl, Kelly Rowland, Tulisa – every single female artist that’s on a reality kind of show about talent, it’s the same story just regurgitated. You’ve just gotta laugh and not let it get to you.

YOU ROCKED SOME GREAT LOOKS ON ‘THE VOICE’, IS IT SOMETHING YOU PLANNED EACH WEEK OR DID YOU HAVE A BIG PLAN FOR THE WHOLE SERIES?

No not at all, we decided probably two days before or, if anything, on the Saturday. I think it was the third week in I did the ASOS dress, it was something that I’d bought myself and was just like, I really wanna wear this tonight, can we do long hair? I kind of just had fun with it. There’s no point in looking the same every week and it being boring. I was the only girl and I just felt it was my duty to bring a bit of shirazz – is that a word? Tom was usually in a suit or a shirt, Danny was very ‘All Saints’ with the jeans and the waistcoats and then you had Will who obviously wore his own clothing line.

BACK TO MUSIC, ‘LASERLIGHT’ IS A BIG ANTHEM.

Yeah, it’s the seventh single from my debut album. Can’t believe it’s been seven singles and I’m very honoured to have David Guetta on the track. Music is my everything so it’s really important that I’m still kind of getting the music out there and people are knowing that that’s what I’m about. I always wanted this to be a single and obviously the David Guetta collaboration just made it that extra bit more special. I loved it and I just wanted it to be put out there, it’s something different, it’s about my fans and it was last single of the album. I thought it was nice to round it off with a thank you to them for keeping me here and feeling good and safe.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH DAVID GUETTA?

Well I was really busy and so was he so I kind of was in the studio and he was on tour. We were kind of back and forth. We’ve never actually been in the same studio at the same time yet. I’ve met him at the EMAs and at various events but not in the studio form.

IT’S A REAL POWERHOUSE AS WELL.

It’s not easy to sing, it really isn’t. My MD actually, when we did Graham Norton, he came over to me and he goes, ‘Jessie there’s no BV’s on this track’ and I’m like, ‘Yep, I’m aware of that’ and he was like, ‘Do you want us to add some?’ and I was like, ‘Well, there’s not any on the actual song, it’s just me.’ So I did Graham Norton and I sang it for the first time on the show and then I realised how high it was and I was like, ‘Woah’, from the verse to the chorus it’s a big jump. But, you know what, I’m always pushing myself, I don’t ever want to be comfortable otherwise you don’t get better. So I’m happy that people like it, it’s a song that I wrote about my fans.

WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT ALBUM NUMBER TWO?
Album two. What a scary thing. It’s exciting though. It’s early stages, but who knows what it’s gonna sound like. I just want to sing my butt off. I want people to put it on and go ‘woah’.

DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU’RE WORKING WITH YET?

I’ve been in the studio with Dr Luke and Claude Kelly again. I’ve had sessions with Cee Lo Green. I’m very much looking forward to going in with will.i.am and that was organised even before we started ‘The Voice’ believe it or not. He was someone that was on my wish list. So now I know him and we can hang out and have fun. So there’s a few other people up my sleeve – not literally living under my sleeve – but artists that I’d love to just get in the studio with. I think it’s gonna be fun this time. I think it’s gonna be music for the moment. I’m just gonna sing as much as I can on this album, which is what I do best, which is why I really need to make sure I sing, sing, sing, yeah.

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